Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I too wish to raise my concern at the way student nurses are treated. Is it any wonder we cannot retain or recruit enough nurses? Who would want to take up the job given the way they are being disrespected and treated very badly? I call on the Government to try to redeem itself by making sure student nurses and midwives are awarded a pay increase and that the retention fee of €100 is waived. Clapping them one minute and cutting them down the next is just outrageous. I ask for that issue to be considered.

On the issue of dance classes, several dance class teachers were outside Leinster House this morning. I met them and discussed many issues with them. It makes no sense that they are restricted so much. They have taken every measure they could possibly take. They have mortgages to pay. Children are back in school but cannot attend dance classes. One dance teacher told me that children and teenagers are absolutely heartbroken and that it is having a serious effect on their mental health and well-being. I appeal to the Government to please show some goodwill and fairness in terms of lifting this restriction because it makes no sense when children are back in school and everything else. This issue needs to be looked at.

I understand children can participate in soccer training but there is significant concern among schoolboy and schoolgirl soccer clubs in the midlands that children cannot participate in matches. Doing so is good for their well-being and, indeed, helps to keep them healthy, the importance of which we hear so much about. We are told that children need to participate in sports and that it is encouraged. There needs to be some common sense shown. I appeal on behalf of the soccer clubs that are very disillusioned for children to be allowed to play matches.

Cinemas being open but theatres not being allowed to open is also a very serious issue. It has been brought to my attention that Birr Theatre and Arts Centre has a cinema club. There is no cinema in the town and the cinema club, which is within the theatre, cannot open because of this restriction. I appeal to the Government to show some goodwill and understanding and empathy for people. What is lacking is empathy for the hardship people are going through, some of it unnecessarily. Some of the restrictions are completely over the top and make no sense. Indeed, some Ministers and backbench Deputies have admitted that some of the measures make no sense. We need to revisit them and I ask for that issue in particular to be considered.

Rural pubs are being treated shamefully. We hear the Government talking about rural Ireland and supporting a vibrant rural economy, which is a commitment in the programme for Government, yet we are seeing that rural pubs are absolutely being trampled on. I have seen many rural pubs and I can tell the Minister that they are as clean as or cleaner than many surgeries and hospital wards. They have put in place every measure possible. The Government has to remember that, unfortunately, rural pubs do not face the same scenario as pubs in Dublin. They do not have big crowds of people coming in. There might be ten people or maybe 15 people at the weekend in each local pub The restriction is having a significant impact. The Government is speaking from two sides of its mouth all of the time. It talks about rural isolation, but what about people living on their own who go to their local pub for a sociable drink? It is the only time they meet anybody. I have been told by constituents that they do not see anybody, apart from possibly seeing the postman three or four times a week. That is a serious issue. The Government is seriously damaging people and impacting on their mental health with the unfair restrictions it is imposing. Many rural pubs will never reopen because of the measures the Government has taken. I have supported those pubs from day one and I will continue to do so along with my colleagues in the Rural Independent Group.

The Government needs to look at what it is doing and the impact that is having on people's mental health and well-being. We need to make sure that experts from every sector are included in any decision-making. I believe the whole thing is going wrong because we do not have insightful experts providing their accounts and information to be factored into the decisions that are made. The decisions are being taken on a whim and I think some of them have gone much too far and need to be revisited. Some of them need to be pulled back. We absolutely need to take precautions but we cannot create a police state where the Government takes responsibility for every citizen. There has to be personal responsibility. I believe the State needs to ease up in that regard. The Government is going much too far. The draconian measures that are in place are absolutely going to destroy rural Ireland.

I come from a constituency where an unjust transition is taking place. There have been many job losses and farmers are struggling. Now the Government is trying to take away our rural pubs and everything else. The Government needs to take stock of the impact its poor decision-making is having on rural constituencies, such as Laois-Offaly, and many others.

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